A Cristmas Carol
By Charles Dickens
A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Mr.Scrooge sits in his counting-house on Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom because Scrooge refuses to spend money on heating coals for a fire. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, pays his uncle a visit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. Two portly gentlemen also drop by and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge reacts to the holiday visitors with bitterness, uttering an angry "Bah! Humbug!" in response to his nephew's "Merry Christmas!"
Later that evening, after returning to his dark, cold apartment, Scrooge receives a frightening visitation from the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Marley relates his unfortunate story to Mr. Scrooge. As punishment for Marley’s greedy life, his spirit has been condemned to wander the Earth weighted down with heavy chains. Marley hopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. Marley informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him during each of the next three nights.
He wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases from Scrooge’s earlier years. Invisible to those he watches, Scrooge revisits his childhood school days, his apprenticeship with a merchant named Fezziwig, and his engagement to Belle, a woman who leaves Scrooge because his lust for money eclipses his ability to love another. Scrooge, deeply moved, sheds tears of regret before the phantom returns him to his bed.
The Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Scrooge through London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year. Scrooge watches the large, bustling Cratchit family prepare a miniature feast in its meager home. He discovers Bob Cratchit's crippled son, Tiny Tim, a courageous boy whose kindness and humility warms Scrooge's heart. The specter then zips Scrooge to his nephew's to witness the Christmas party. Scrooge...